Comms Clean Up

Posted on Thu Sep 26th, 2024 @ 1:27am by Nollel Livaam (*) & Executive Officer Jake Ford & Chief Engineer Michael Burnstein & Chief Comms Rivek

Mission: Shackles
Location: Deck 8 - Communication's Bay
Timeline: MD - 03
1115 words - 2.2 OF Standard Post Measure

Although Rivek's personal log wasn't scathing, he felt a tinge of guilt as he walked through the ship's corridors. To prove himself, he ended up airing everyone's laundry out in the open. He couldn't look anyone in their eyes, but this was a common occurrence on the Rosie. Arguments echoed from quarters. Friendships and relationships ended. Some started. Rivek reminded himself that the whole disaster wasn't all bad.

He entered the Communications Relay station. His dark eyes looked at the mess. Rivek put down his toolkit and placed his hands on his hips. He took in a deep breath, assessing the area. Wires, conduits, and power supplies were all decades of patchwork. It resembled a mosaic of the ship's many lives and missions. He let out a deep sigh. "Alright, where do I even start?"

Nollel followed looking annoyed with Ford and Vaan as they were there to try and work out how to fix the problem with the logs being broadcast throughout the ship. "Not a clue but I highly recommend we sort it out. Some people have been on this ship a long time." Nollel commented glancing at the 2 other men before looking at the safer option right now.

"I'd suggest starting with the speaker connections," Burnie offered, going right to the most practical approach to stop the broadcast. "Either that or cut the volume. We can work on it without..."

Sometimes I just don't get people. Almost everyone here is fit and decently attractive, but is there ever a nice spontaneous orgy? Even a tiny one...

His lips curled in. That was another comment it was going to take some serious drinking to erase. "...being distracted by things no one should hear."

"Please make it stop. Please make it stop. Please make it stop." The words tumbled out of Curtis' mouth like a mantra.

Rivek giggled. It escaped his lips, so he hid them behind his elbow. "I don't think I'm using personal logs correctly," he jested. He opened a panel and started working on the system. His cheeks blushed purple as he stifled more giggles.

Nollel blushed as Beya's log finished and her own voice filled the compartment starting a new log and she heard just how bad emotionally she had been a year ago. She glanced at Michael and shook her head. It was something they could discuss later or he could forget all about it as she had moved on. "Speaker connections disconnected please." She requested.

"On it," Rivek said. He took in a sharp breath to try and compose himself, but the message echoed around his mind. He pressed a few buttons on a panel, then cut a few cords. The sound of the logs slowed to a hum, then cut completely off. For a long-awaited moment—silence. The calmness of it caused Rivek to reset himself. "Speakers are disconnected. Let's hope there are no red alerts until we can get them back online."

"Thank goodness." Nollel sighed in relief as Leiddem's voice disappeared. She loved everyone onboard but she did not what to know about Beya's view on somethings or remind herself just how badly emotionally Gregnol had been back in 2393.

"Screw the red alerts," Curtis remarked snappily. "If someone wants to blow us up now it might turn out to be a mercy killing."

"Easy," Jake noted, tapping his foot lightly. "How long to flush the system out?"

"If we want to do a full system diagnostic, and then repair—" Rivek placed his fist to his chin. His eyes squinted as he processed. "I'm thinking at least a couple of hours to get the alert system back online. For a full repair and security reboot of internal comms, we're looking to a two day turnaround."

"2 days?" Nollel winced. "How many people do you need to make it one?" She demanded thinking of how many people she could free up to make it a bit quicker and elevate some of the issues that no communication caused. The ship was not large but it would certainly add a lot more steps to people daily if they needed to track and communicate in person.

"Question is how much you need communications," Curtis grumbled. "Not being able to send or receive, that is. We'd be like a Bynar at a singles bar."

Nollel leant out and put a hand on Curtis arm and squeezed. "Stop grumbling." She advised kindly looking to Rivek waiting for him to give better answers.

"No need to be so dramatic about it. It's only the speakers that are offline," Burnie pointed out matter-of-factly. "If there's an alert, the lights will still go off, and the klaxons - those are separate sound system in these old ships so that announcements can be made over them. As to communications, we have these." He pointed to his comm badge. "We just need to set them to use external comms - that's a code tweak to change the default when aboard ship. Probably less than a hour's work."

"I don't have a comm badge." Nollel declared looking disappointed. Was that part of being a senior crew member she had not caught up with yet? Operations was fast becoming a steep learning curve. "I have just been doing to communication arrays or PADD messaging."

Rivek's eyes glazed back and forth as he calculated. "It might be quicker to do a manual diagnostic. With the system being what it is, the self-assessment program would have difficulty getting around the constant channeling of personal comms." He looked to Burnie with a nod. "It's not as comprehensive, but I think we could manage it."

"Sounds like a plan," Burnie said with a nod of approval. "Let me know what engineering can do to help."

"A raktajino would be great," said Rivek with a cheeky smile. "Only jokes, but caffeine will be necessary for this repair to get done quickly." The tricorder in his hand scanned the comms system. "And perhaps some more diagnostic equipment."

"And how can I help?" Nollel asked quickly. Comms was not her area but the operations of the ship were so she needed to get things back in order quickly and then speak to Gregnol about getting a communicator.

"Diagnostic equipment I can grab from engineering," Burnie said, turning to head out since he could not just comm down for someone bring it up now. "I'll drop by the mess hall on the way and tell someone to bring up a pot of high test."

"Okay folks, let's give them some space," Jake urged, trying to disperse the group. "And pray that nobody recorded themselves singing Klingon Opera any time in the last five years..."

 

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